Psalm 18 – Don’t Forget

Worship is interesting. How we do it is even more interesting. If we don’t get into it, an observer might see it as completely powerless. If we sell out to it, we might seem like a crazy. It’s amazing the emotion and insecurity that can flood our mind during worship. And it’s amazing the criticism that can come from the outside world (let’s be honest, even other Christians) when we do sell out to it. Many of us are scared to worship with everything we’ve got.

But we have a natural leaning towards worship. We are emotional beings. When we love something, we tend to worship it. On the tail end of all the College Bowl games, I can’t help but think about how far we’ll go for our team. I know its kind of cliché to make the connection between sports and faith, but really, think about it. We’ll spend hundreds of dollars on tickets, sometimes thousands if not millions on donations, pay to park, walk a mile to the stadium, then sit there and go absolutely wild for our team (whether it be in freezing weather or blazing heat). We wear t-shirts and hats supporting the team. We scream to the point of losing our voice. We pump our hands in the air and yell out chants together. We sit on hard metal chairs literally for hours. Our goal is to get as close to the front as possible. And we feel the experience. We really feel it. We cry when we lose and we are pumped when we win. And we’ll defend our teams to the point of fighting.

With literally billions of dollars made in the entertainment industry, we act the same way at a concert, get star struck with a celebrity, and can be obsessed with even a TV show. Ryan Seacrest announced 97.5 millions votes came in for the season finale of the 2008 American Idol season.

I’m not saying that ALL this is wrong. I’m a huge sports fan and am pretty uninhibited when it comes to some of these things. But in light of them, I’m pondering today how and why our worship of God is so inhibited.

Something’s wrong.

“It’s crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe – the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor – loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.” – Francis Chan, Author of Crazy Love

I know Chan is speaking about a life of worship, something bigger than just worship through song. But it certainly applies here too.

I find myself in a seemingly constant season of learning what it means to worship to God. What it means to worship as a response to His Grace and His movement in our lives. And how we respond to His leading. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always turn into me responding the correct way, which typically leads to more opportunities to learn, but nonetheless the season continues.

Responding appropriately seems to start with a perspective and leads to a posture. Hopefully a perspective that God is simply amazing and we are not. That perspective will lead to a posture towards Him and others. But it’s a process. David constantly gives an example of this response. Psalm 18 is no different.

Here we find him singing to the LORD as a response to the LORD delivering him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He’s literally worshipping. He’s known for being pretty undignified in his worship. Here’s a play by play of David’s song:

1. Expresses how much he loves God.
2. Expresses who God is to him.
3. Expresses all that God has done for him.
4. Expresses his confidence in God.
5. Exalts him as above all others.

We may find ourselves feeling and even wanting to express our love towards God. That may be a common experience for us. But we often fall short of meditating on and expressing to God who He is to us, that He’s our foundation. Rarely do we remind God all that He’s done for us as an expression of thanks. And while we may have confidence, how often do we express our confidence in God? David did all of these things. Constantly.

When I think about worship, physical sing out loud worship, I can feel the difference between when I really mean it and when I’m going through the motions. We often try to go straight from step 1 to step 5, from “I love God” to therefore “I worship God”, neglecting or just forgetting steps 2-3. When a lyric, a scripture, a thought goes through my mind reminding me of those things, my worship changes.

“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." – Luke 7:47

We should take the example of David. We should remind God more about who He is to us. We should remind Him more all that He’s done in our lives. We should remind Him more of the confidence we have in Him. NOT because He might forget, but because WE forget. I think it will change the way we worship.

“I love you, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

He is the God who avenges me, 

who subdues nations under me,
who saves me from my enemies. 


You exalted me above my foes; 

from violent men you rescued me.

Therefore I will praise you among
the nations, O LORD; 

I will sing praises to your name.”

– Psalm 18:1-2, 47-49